Epica 6 point 0
by Lyaksandra
Summary: She is determined, relentless, implacable; a force of nature. After a quest spanning centuries, the knowledge to save everyone is finally hers. Fate can be defeated. Even if to do so one needs to rise above myths and legends. She is Maxine Caulfield, time warrior, and if apotheosis is the only way, then, so be it.


**Author's Notes:** Considering the norm in the LiS fandom, this is probably batshit crazy. Such is my Epica series, though. It's right there in the title. You've been warned, dear reader.

 **EPICA 6.0**

Victoria is on her knees before me. She's looking up with eyes so wide that the feline similitude is completely gone. Now she's the doe in headlights.

This is what happened after I explained how I've been traveling through time for the last four hundred years trying to save my best friend's life.

"What do you mean they're coming, Max? Who the fuck is _they_?"

I join her kneeling on the ground and grab both her hands, kissing the wrists, palms, and every finger in them. Victoria has beautiful, delicate hands. She should take the piano if we survive. I know she could do it and be good if she put her mind to it.

"Fate, baby. Fate is coming."

"Fate is several people?"

I would find the incredulity of her tone funny were it not because a hole just opened in the sky and through it I can see the blackness of space like it's the middle of the night. Not to mention the clouds around the hole are on fire.

"Yes," I rush the words out. We're running out of time. "It's like a council, or something, that decides everything that happens down here. To us."

My answer has no effect on her flabbergasted expression. "And this—this thing you want to do. What was it?"

There's effort in biting back my frustration. They're almost here, and Victoria—lovely, beautiful Victoria—is still asking stupid questions.

"Time is part of the essential fabric of the universe," I recite, admittedly a bit patronizing. "They, fate, have no actual control over it, but they learned how to harness it. Somehow, I ended up being a conduit by accident. Hence my time powers."

"Max…" She says, just now noticing the hole in the sky. I can hear the gut wrenching fear in her voice.

We're almost out of time. I grab her face with my hands and force her to look into my eyes.

"Baby, I already told you this. I can't use the power. Not properly. But I can put it into someone. And there's no one I trust more than you. Okay?"

She nods.

I nod.

My baby—may all other deities that also are real bless her heart—asks the question I least expect. Even though I'm about to sacrifice her in this bid to fight destiny itself. This is what I do. I sacrifice everyone around me.

"Will I still love you?"

Tears sting my eyes. To stop them, I tell myself that it's going to be fine; that none of this will matter in the end. Everything will be fixed and back to normal once this is over. I repeat it like a mantra in my head. It doesn't work.

"Yes, but it won't be the same. You will have a different perspective on it, or something."

Victoria stares at me, her eyes brimming with tears too.

After a beat, she sniffles and wipes her nose with the sleeve of her favorite cashmere sweater. For some reason, that seemingly trivial action makes my heart feel like it's clutched in a fist. And it's because I know there's a finality in Victoria not caring about her sweater anymore. She has accepted her fate. I pounce on her and hug her like I want to squeeze the life out of her body.

Too soon she pushes me away, and I immediately feel forsaken without her softness and warmth.

"Okay." She nods, sniffling again. "Let's do it."

I can't find any words, so, I just close my eyes and begin concentrating on the transference.

There is a physical sensation to the power leaving me. I feel an emptiness in my head, like an actual piece of my brain has gone missing. But, I have no time to dwell on it, because in front of me, Victoria has already sprung into action. She's already on her feet and pulling me up.

Victoria always had a certain aura of pride about her, but now she looks regal. She exudes a self-confidence that fills and inspires me. Suddenly, I feel braver, like I can face anything that comes. I guess this is how avatars are supposed to work.

Worthy of mention is also the fact that I can see the bull and the lion flanking her. I would say that's a pretty clear indicator that the transfer worked.

Her attention returns back to me after staring at the hole in the sky for several seconds.

"This is so strange," she says, her voice completely monotone. "I know that I still love you, however, I cannot feel it." One of Victoria's hands reaches for my cheek, touching it gently. "I am sorry."

I capture her hand and kiss the palm three times for good measure. The tears are back. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

She stares at me for a moment before using her free hand to pull me close and kiss me on the lips.

There's no denying that it feels great, nor that I can feel all her love pouring into me through our connection. Problem is, it feels, dare I say, maternal. Somehow. There's only a drive to protect. She wants me safe, not cuddling naked beside her.

Once again, I tell myself that it doesn't matter; that it's going to be okay once all of this is done.

It's getting harder to justify the means to reach that end.

Victoria suddenly walks past me and reaches behind herself with one hand.

"Get behind me. They're here."

I cling to her cashmere like it's a lifeline and look up at the hole in the sky. A gigantic ball of fire is falling from it and fast approaching the bay.

When it lands, I'm left speechless. The explosion takes out at least four blocks, and even all the way from here in the lighthouse, I can tell that the creature emerging from the crater is at least two stories tall.

"What have you done?" its voice reaches across the vast distance and booms inside my head like thunder in a storm. It's neither male nor female. It just is. The best way I can describe it is as noise that makes sense.

"Leave her be," Victoria's voice resonates in much the same way. "I shall be your opponent."

I can feel a headache coming.

As I touch my temple, I feel the air behind me shift.

Suddenly, Victoria's expression goes from neutral to furious. "You dare?" she bellows.

It takes me a second to realize that the lighthouse and all the ground it stood upon are now gone. In fact, Victoria and I are standing on the very edge of a cliff. A newly formed cliff. For the first time since this ordeal began, I feel a horrible, all-encompassing fear take hold of my mind.

"Relinquish the power and you shall be spared, mortal."

In my panic, I consider suggesting that we take the offer, but, before I can even think too long about it, Victoria shoots it down in typical Victoria Chase fashion: Swiftly, mercilessly, and without the slightest regret.

"I am mortal no more," she shouts, her rage shaking me all the way to the bone. "In fact, I am a god. To me, you are nothing more than an insignificant maggot, and I shall ensure that you regret this insolence for all eternity!"

Victoria makes a delicate gesture with her hand, and the next thing I know, there's nothing where Arcadia Bay once was. Next comes a deafening rumble that shakes the ground all the way to where we're standing, and then, the ocean begins pouring in to fill the gargantuan hole. Though I should be feeling something else entirely, instead I'm in awe at the view of these majestic waterfalls forming right before my eyes. As expected, there's no trace of the creature either.

"She killed him!" a voice shouts indignantly from the hole in the sky.

Without any further ado, several balls of fire begin falling toward us.

A protective arm comes around my waist and we go airborne. When I look at Victoria's face, I find myself being filled with confidence and courage once again.

No one will ever know, and thus no tale will ever be told, but this is how this clash of titans began. An all-out war would rage for days to save a small town in the Pacific Northwest and a blue-haired girl who used to live in it.

 **FIN**

 **Author's Notes:** Or, would you prefer "deer reader". No, no, that's just preposterous.


End file.
